Rep. Madison Cawthorn discloses 2021 'Let's Go Brandon' cryptocurrency purchase days after ethics probe announced

Newly elected U.S. Rep Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) speaks as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather by the White House ahead of Trump's speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. 

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation earlier this month into the North Carolina Republican's possible promotion of an asset he secretly owned.

Cawthorn bought between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of Let's Go Brandon on December 21. He wrote a response to a photo of him posing with the coin's co-founders on the day after the transaction.

On news of its sponsorship deal with a NASCAR driver, the dollar value of that coin soared 75%.

The first-term congressman sold between $100,000 and $250,000 of the "Let's Go Brandon" coin.

Before the dollar price exploded, he had paid for virtual currency.

The value of the Let's Go Brandon coin fell after NASCAR rejected its sponsorship deal with Brandon Brown.

The disclosure of the transactions came four days after the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating the North Carolina Republican over his comment about the "Let's Go Brandon" coin.

In the same House financial disclosure form filing Friday, Cawthorn revealed that he had bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of ether on Dec. 27 and then $250,000 on Dec. 31.

Members of Congress are required to file disclosures of their purchases and sales of securities within 45 days of the transactions.

Five months after the transactions he detailed, Cawthorn disclosed Friday.

He lost the GOP nomination for a second term in office after narrowly losing a GOP primary.

Cawthorn's spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The Washington Examiner reported in April that Cawthorn may have broken the law by trading on nonpublic information.

Cawthorn angered fellow Republicans in Congress by claiming older colleagues invited him to orgies and used cocaine in front of him.

On Monday after the House Ethics Committee announced that it authorized an investigation on May 11, Cawthorn's chief of staff said that they welcome the opportunity to prove that Cawthorn committed no wrongdoing and that he was wrongly accused by partisan adversaries for political gain.

Harp said that the office isn't deterred from completing the job the people of Western North Carolina sent them to do.

Wow - I must still be a problem for the swamp! They are still coming after me!

The panel said that Cawthown is being investigated over questions about whether he had an improper relationship with a person employed by his congressional staff.